NOTE: This is an archived version of the first incarnation of Brand New. All posts have been closed to comments. Please visit underconsideration.com/brandnew for the latest version. If you would like to see this specific post, simply delete _v1 from the URL.
A new identity program paying tribute to the the New Museum’s new building, new location, new principles and new international partnerships was newly unveiled to the public just in time for the new year on December 1st, 2007. Gone is the barber-stripe-clad moire mouthful, “New Museum of Contemporary Art.”
An informant from the design team articulated the organizing principle.
“…we have taken the concept of what a museum is, in a sense a platform/container of art and applied that idea to the identity using language.”
Message is the medium in the program created by Wolff Olins and friends*. With the brand principle “New Art, New Ideas,” informative, entertaining, and provocative messages serve to cohesively expose and build on the mission of the institution with a rigorous brevity. For a museum with no permanent collection, all this interchangeable newness makes a lot of sense. The museum’s imperative is to scream “come one come all” to this new art high-rise on the historically gritty Bowery; home of flooring, ramekins, Julia Stiles’ condo, and the remnants of CBGB’s awning.
The 235 Bowery message is used as the default logo as a practical ends to incessantly remind the uninitiated where the new art and ideas are. Sadly, an address number is an abstract thing in a city whose colloquial directional logic operates first in cross-streets, and second in building numbers. Regardless, one can’t argue with the new brick and mortar, as it were. Speaking of, New York Magazine has a solid review of the architecture by the Tokyo firm, SANAA, and Gothamist has some hot detail shots of the lovely bathrooms and exterior wall details. Particularly welcoming is the sign installation on the exterior by Ugo Rondinone which shouts a rainbowed “Hell Yes” to the Bowery.
Besides giving the requisite what and where, non-sequitur quips pop up now and then to remind us that it’s a cool, accessible place with a newly self-aware personality. My favorites are “New Forget It Museum”, “New Celebrity Museum” and the “New I Could’ve Done This Museum”. As a whole, the system conveniently bundles the concept of curatorial, cultural, and interpretive flexibility with the museum’s angsty, anti-bourgeois, punky downtown heritage. At times though, the sentiment becomes ambivalent and sarcastic… from a tired hand at a dry-erase board in a brainstorming session on Madison avenue.
Poster-sniping throughout the city for the launch campaign was prolifc and memorable, second only to Dr. Zizmor’s ongoing-takeover of New York subway adspace. Curiously, recent Radiohead snipings for “In Rainbows” are pretty darn similar.
Type is employed at a scale which softens the belligerent all caps house-style between fields of flat black. The post-Eurostile/Microgramma typeface, Neographik, lends a touch of sci-fi, high-tech irony. Thankfully, it is less sober than MoMA’s Gothic, and somehow feels more timeless. Custom typography results in the museum’s collateral materials passing the “glance and you know where’s it from” test. Moreover, the type is dressed in eclectic colors that collapse the sophisticated palettes of Paul Rand in the mid 50s and Esprit in the late 80s. Besides forging a tight appearance, the stacked and varied arrangements of type create pleasantly haphazard rags which feel very similar to the asymmetrical shape of the building.
Aesthetic merits of the architecture will be experienced by visitors in context; as a metaphor for containers, galleries, and tenements; however, silhouettes of the building awkwardly decorate some materials. When the jagged rectangular shape is hijacked for use on banners and posters, it loses all scale and subtlety, feeling like a poorly conceived retail product — an unborn Zune accessory or the cousin to Amazon’s Kindle. But in contrast to all this forced logic, the Casa Da Musica successfully utilizes its container shape to offer a visual equivalent of the audio experience by way of using the impermeable concert hall’s silhouette as a vehicle for describing events with multifaceted experiences. The much hyped CK graf billiboard takeover video in advance of the opening, feels overdone. A street-cred stunt like this would only be required if the New Museum was misplaced in Murray Hill. The new language system is not an entirely new idea… flash back to 2005 when Seigel & Gale got there first with their naming system for the Parsons the New School for Design.
So far, the expressions of the New Museum identity are striking and distinctive in achieving a coherence between mission, building, and identity. Modularity and user-controlled elements have transcended fashion and now appear as a requirement of identity design in contrast to the slick and straight-faced management style modernism of yore. Yet, unlike the flexibility of the seizure-inducing pizzazz of the the 2012 logo, this brutal program demonstrates a measured and seductive pragmatism. We can surely look forward to even newer flexible identities in 2008.
*Expanded credits for the identity program are:
Identity concept: Wolff Olins
Design development: Wolff Olins, Omnivore,
and the New Museum in-house design department
Advertising: Droga 5
Jump to Most Recent Comment
Gm’s comment is:
Ooh, Wolff Ollins strikes again.
Reminds me GREATLY of Queensland Events' print material.
On Jan.04.2008 at 07:47 AM
Chad K’s comment is:
All I read at first is 'NEW OPENING DECEMBER 1 MUSEUM'. It looks like it would play out well on what looks like the scrolling signboard in the last picture—where NEW MUSEUM stay stationary and the other words move between them.
On Jan.04.2008 at 07:56 AM
Paul D’s comment is:
New
What A Dumb
Idea
Museum
drew kora’s comment is:
I actually think it's pretty cool. I dig it.
On Jan.04.2008 at 08:19 AM
drew kora’s comment is:
I actually think it's pretty cool.
On Jan.04.2008 at 08:19 AM
Prescott Perez-Fox’s comment is:
Like other identities hitting the scene these days, my initial reaction to dismiss it as bizarre and even boring, but after seeing it expanded across the various media, I realise it's well done. The logo itself is no icon, but the overall visual style is plenty strong to create the association. After seeing only a few photos I will be able to recognise the ... brand. And isn't that the point, after all?
And for the record, I have zero love for the guerilla tactic of sticking cards into subway adverts. So annoying.
On Jan.04.2008 at 08:35 AM
P. Dantic’s comment is:
by "Microstile" I think you mean "Microgramma," by the way
On Jan.04.2008 at 08:48 AM
Asen Tsvyatkov’s comment is:
Wow. Gorgeous. I am familiar with Omnivore's work, and I have to say that this seems like a very respectful and productive collaboration between them and Wolff Olins. 10.
On Jan.04.2008 at 08:52 AM
Gm’s comment is:
Wow, this is fairly off topic, but that New York Ballet typography that Prescott posted is strongly reminiscent of the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, which are an initiative of Queensland Events...
On Jan.04.2008 at 09:06 AM
coz’s comment is:
I like it.
Good job Wolff Ollins
Ty’s comment is:
Today we spell redemption W-O-L-F-F.
On Jan.04.2008 at 09:58 AM
John Mindiola III’s comment is:
i think we can all see how the logo is taking second stage to the identity, brand, and general "look and feel." this is shocking to the system, with the hyper-neon colors, but it's good overall.
On Jan.04.2008 at 12:08 PM
Darrin Crescenzi’s comment is:
I actually really enjoy the idea of the wordmark "containing" the content... it's not exactly a new concept, but I really like the way it works in this instance. Because it relies so heavily on the impact of the colors, I worry that its effectiveness will diminish significantly over a brief period of time, but we can hope the system includes provisions for this.
Ty: I laughed out loud when I read your comment. Agreed though, it seems much more impactful and practicable than other recent Wolff Olins offerings.
On Jan.04.2008 at 01:21 PM
Inaudible Nonsense’s comment is:
I like it too. I'm kind of in love with Wolf Olins though. The work there is intersecting with the kick I've been on for awhile now. Sort of some place between 1982 and conceptual art. I have a huge crush and would take a job there in a heart beat. So I always hear the b*tching online about their work and I feel a little like Chris Crocker: "Leave Wolf Olins alone!"
On Jan.04.2008 at 10:04 PM
diogo’s comment is:
Strong typographic logos always work for this kind of program.
The street poster is beautiful.
On Jan.05.2008 at 08:47 AM
Josh’s comment is:
Wolff Olins' dangerous swelling from the bee sting that was the London 2012 is starting to taper off a bit.
Though most people seem to be enjoying the idea and executions, to those that aren't maybe we're leaning a bit heavy on design history/Paul Rand.
Context, history, location, mission and many other ideas can play into the development of the mark, but instead of holding onto some sentimental nature of having a symbolic mark as the pinnacle of identity design, lets not forget there are many other options.
The smartest thing i have heard from WO in awhile is "the museum is a platform/container art".
The execution of content between the divided elements reinforces this thought and honestly works because they don't try to get super clever trying to use the NEW or MUSEUM as part of it.
Despite its physical division, all messages are reinforced constantly and consistently and the museum's actual brand awareness might increase significantly faster amongst those familiar and unfamiliar.
Here's to WO, Omnivore and Droga 5. Fantastic work all around.
On Jan.05.2008 at 02:00 PM
Jeff’s comment is:
Yeah, I'll give it to Wolff on this one. I find the brand immediately memorable and fitting for its subject. Some of the sandwiched messages in the poster are a bit much, but, if always in the context of the rest, are tolerable.
I agree with Inaudible Nonsense: I, too, would take a job at W.O. because of the variety and ballsyness they're allowed. But they're only slowly redeeming themselves in execution.
On Jan.05.2008 at 03:42 PM
Jw’s comment is:
Eh, it's fine. The press kit USB thing looks quite annoying, but the new identity is definitely not aggressively offensive, as the London 2012 one is.
I wonder how long such boldness in the collateral material will last before it's simply seen as regular.
On Jan.06.2008 at 10:06 AM
SH’s comment is:
On Jan.06.2008 at 02:56 PM
Asen Tsvyatkov’s comment is:
gah, i wish it was the london office...
On Jan.06.2008 at 05:29 PM
Danny Tanner’s comment is:
As Joe pointed out, the the "235 Bowery" message
used as the default logo, could be viewed as falling short
in a city were directional logic relies on cross-streets.
However, given that we live in the age of google maps,
iphones, etc; I'm not bothered by this, and feel it could be
viewed in terms of utility as equal or superior.
As far as museums go, the color palette is nothing new.
The "rainbow effect" as I like to call it is often employed for
museum identity systems (some in more prominence than
others) to avoid pinning down a specific color for the
institution. After all, museums are essentially containers
(which this identity demonstrates eloquently) and the
institutions goals tend to orient around focusing on
the content inside that container.
I commend this identity on both having meaning and utility.
Too many identities are designed to be "pretty," with
real meaning (analytical or emotional) and utility secondary
in mind if at all. When something so simple can can carry
such meaning and be so functional, that is what I consider
true beauty, and what I feel has been accomplished here.
Only time will tell if this identity's cleaver utility will remain
fresh, or grow stale with age.
As Buckminster Fuller said "When I am working on a
problem, I never think about beauty but when I have
finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it
is wrong.'
Derrick’s comment is:
It's boring and I don't like the address interrupting the name.
On Jan.06.2008 at 06:25 PM
Matheus’s comment is:
it's just a boring text
On Jan.06.2008 at 07:21 PM
knotacritique’s comment is:
Is there perhaps a bit of looking-through-glitter-sprinkled-glasses going on here? very blas'e, but then you can't blame the designer but the industry. With the advertising funds available to such institutions, does it matter what gets put up. Paris Hilton gets paid mad money just to show face. Please tell how a no-name institution will stand out with an identity like that? Then again props to Ollins and co for doing the minimum necessary.
On Jan.06.2008 at 08:25 PM
The Cop’s comment is:
Geez, Gm. Either you're horrible ego-centric and suggesting that these pieces have in some way been stolen from obscure Queensland websites, or your highlighting the lack of differentiation between many brands these days. I'm hoping it's the second, but your tone would suggest the first, which is sad. Do you honestly think WO would spend their time prowling the net looking for stuff to copy instead of, oh, I don't know, responding to the brief?
On Jan.06.2008 at 10:06 PM
Gm’s comment is:
No, I wasn't suggesting WO stole anything from anywhere, obscure or otherwise. I know what design is, and I know how design works. In fact, I think I even managed to point out that my little chain of discussion was becoming somewhat off-topic. I am simply pointing out a nifty little full circle narrative of similar design outcomes. And I don't know about you but I am always interested in seeing how two completely unrelated briefs can manifest themselves in similar ways.
But perhaps you don't find it as interesting as a good ol' fashioned pissing contest?
On Jan.07.2008 at 04:50 AM
BK’s comment is:
Reminds me a lot of Hahn Smith's work for the Art Gallery of Ontario's Frank Gehry renovation: Click on 'Transformation' under 'image'. This was later ripped off for this Toronto expansion project.
On Jan.07.2008 at 08:53 AM
Nick’s comment is:
like the street ad but miss the "of contemporary art" part seems to be a little bit of a sell out to bold type
On Jan.07.2008 at 09:12 AM
Jeff’s comment is:
BK, I'd say that's a valid comparison. !!
On Jan.07.2008 at 10:18 AM
disgruntled designer’s comment is:
i really really really want to like it, and i have to say that applied in posters on the subway it does stand out. but for some reason something really bothers me about it. i just can't figure out what it is. just something is off. at least they kerned it though. thank god.
On Jan.07.2008 at 12:07 PM
Design NY’s comment is:
Ha. Pathetic.
On Jan.07.2008 at 01:13 PM
Daniel Bertalotto’s comment is:
Very smart. It has legs to keep as ever-changing as I'd perceive the Museum to be.
On Jan.07.2008 at 02:47 PM
adam’s comment is:
to the comments that "it is just boring text" etc...
there is more to a successful design than just making something look "pretty." i like the concept with the interchangeable content within the logo.
plus, i think typography alone can be beautiful. for a simple slab-san-serif (haha, does that term exist?) i think it is strong but elegant.
On Jan.07.2008 at 07:18 PM
cary ’s comment is:
I liked their first identity the best.
On Jan.07.2008 at 11:26 PM
cary ’s comment is:
and when I say first I mean the one were the W and M were shared.
On Jan.07.2008 at 11:27 PM
Andrew’s comment is:
While the new identity is much better, I do like the effect on the first identity. Would love to find a larger version of it to see how well the "holographic/3-dimensional" effect holds up.
It's almost buggy.
On Jan.09.2008 at 11:37 AM
Char Alfonzo’s comment is:
I love how designers have the natural reaction to hate anything Wolf Ollins-looking. It's humorous to me. People tend to hate others that are successful. Design is about trends, and they're setting a new one.
This is good image for a museum that has "young people" as their audience. Wolff was the right choice. I love that they use their beautiful new building [location] as part of their identity.
It's clever, deal with it.
If you think you can do a bette job, then prove it.
Josh’s comment is:
I don't think we all are hating on the Wolff or this mark. I mean i've seen worse marks than the London 2012, but that doesn't mean its that much better. This is one of the better ones they've been associated with lately.
I wouldn't say they are setting a trend unless you mean in creating more conceptually motivated marks that may or may not communicate effectively. The New Museum delivers on concept and execution. London 2012 does not.
On Jan.09.2008 at 05:29 PM
Mark’s comment is:
Very clever design :)
On Jan.09.2008 at 08:18 PM
Gm’s comment is:
Char Alfonzo: "Design is about trends" .
-- !?
On Jan.10.2008 at 06:28 AM
OMEN’s comment is:
First time I saw it on the street I loved it. Still do. Props to Wolff Olins.
On Jan.11.2008 at 11:20 AM
Char Alfonzo’s comment is:
Josh: I agree, I am not London 2012's biggest fan. They definitively were the beginners and one of the people that set this colorful nu-ravey style out there. They're known for it as well. I do see where they are going for that logo, however... is it effective? We'll see. Nobody has had the courage to put a logo for an olympic game with such an usual design... time will tell if it's effective or not. Even if it fails, I'm glad there was someone that tried to do something different.
GM: Yes, we set trends. Wether we designers don't like to admit it. Check design studio websites and you're gonna see a lot of common elements. That's what I mean by trends.
On Jan.11.2008 at 01:23 PM
cary whitt’s comment is:
This is not all that clever.
A little confusing maybe
when I refer to the first logo - I mean the one NOT pictured here? Anyone no what I'm talking about?
On Jan.17.2008 at 10:39 AM
Anonymous’s comment is:
When I look at it by itself I think - boring as hell. But when I see it applied I think - that's really cool. Good job W.O.
On Jan.30.2008 at 12:51 AM
Adaptiv Media’s comment is:
I love this. The style is being used quite regularly yet i'm not sick of seeing it. Visually attractive. Well done.
On Jan.30.2008 at 02:18 PM
vitor mazzeo’s comment is:
cool
On Jan.31.2008 at 01:15 PM
Mariann Gordon’s comment is:
underpants parsonical feebly chirping guaycuruan intracervical scroll unflapping
http://www.vhct.org/case699/index.shtml >Near Drowning: Overview
http://www.gvgc.co.uk/
Adaptiv Web Design’s comment is:
And yes, Wolff Ollins does spring to mind here. Although we won't start debating on the Olympic logo design
On Apr.26.2008 at 01:53 PM
Comments in Brand New, V1.0 have been closed.
